Shooting in general

It seems that I have my good and bad days when shooting.  This year at the state shoot in Enderlin, I had what I thought was a pretty good shoot, everything was going fine until I got to stage 10 and had a rifle malfunction, cost me 4 misses.  Overall it was a good shoot but when I compared my 2010 time and place to 2011 I was surprised!  In 2010 I finished 33 with a total time of 309.96 for 10 stages, (only three misses), in 2011 I finished 32 with a total time of 309.45 for 10 stages, ( 6 misses total).  So shot faster but had more misses, average time per stage, (2010, 29.49), (2011, 27.94) I guess need to work on shooting quicker but taking that extra half second to make sure to hit target, 5 seconds per miss adds up quickly.  Regardless I am having fun.

Heading to Squinty Eye!

Loading up the camper and heading to Virginia MN for the Squinty Eye Western Shoot.  This will be my 3rd year at Squinty lot of fun, very challenging stages.  Best part of these multi day shoots is camping with friends.  Yellowstone Vic, Dakota Wildcat, Johnnie Otter, Doc Neilson, Wild River Rose, Little Gunder and Doc Hell to name a few.

My Second Match

The time finally came to help set up for our first match in Minot.  I arrived at the range aournd 5:00pm on Friday and met Yellowstone Vic, Charlie Waite and Doc Hell.  For the next 2 hours we set up steel targets, props and tables.  When we finished we were ready for the Saturday match.  The next day I arrived around 10am to help with last minute preparations, the match was set to begin at 1pm with the shooters meeting at 12:30.  When all was said and done we had 10 shooters, pretty good for our first match.  I did pretty well finishing in the middle of the pack but times were already improving.

Build your own gun cart

In the game of Cowboy action shooting you carry around a lot of gear.  Two pistols, rifle, shotgun, ammo maybe a water bottle plus you need to have a place to put your empty shell casings (reloading is a must in this game).  So most folks have a gun cart to lug around all their gear.  There are as many different kinds and style of carts as there are competitors.  Some are simple some very elaborate, from covered wagons to an easy chair on wheels, to a simple Radio Flyer wagon.  I decided that I should build my own cart, to purchase one meant laying out at least $300 and how hard could it be!  Well I am not a carpenter, but I do posess most of the necessary tools including table saw and the like.  So again I went to the internet (a cowboy shooters best friend) for some ideas.  I found a SASS club that had a local shooter who had numerous gun cart plans you could download for free, (since writing this they have made these plans into a nifty book that you can purchase, no more freebies).  So I downloaded the plans, made a list and headed to Menards, 20 hours and around $300 later (not really more like $150.00) I had my very own gun cart.  The problem was I hadn't followed the plans exactly, the top of the cart was meant to lay down for easy loading, but it didn't quite go all the way down.  Plus I had made it bigger than the plan called for, big mistake this made it really heavy.  But still it was a cart and I can fit 5 long guns and all the gear I need to carry very easily.  This cart has served me well in my first year but I have already made plans for a new gun cart, a little smaller and lighter.  Some folks in the club have purchased gun carts that are very nice, they have three wheels and look like a modern buggy.  Doc Hell bought one of those buggies you push your kids around with and modfied it to fit his guns only cost him about $99.00.  These type of three wheel carts are light, easy to use and fold up to fit in a small car.

Cowboy action addiction

With my first match under my belt I was definately hooked!  I couldn't wait for the next match, and right away I started looking for more cowboy gear, the SASS website has a links page for vendors sassnet.com/Links-Main-001A.php they have everything you could want!  I ordered a pair of authentic pants, shirt and vest to add to my assemble.

My first match (continued)

The next week I got a call from Doc Hell welcoming me to SASS and asking if I was going to the shoot that Sunday in Mofitt.  I had not really planned on going thinking that I would probably just wait until the June Minot shoot, but Doc convinced me I should come.  When I said that maybe I should just come and watch, he said, "oh no you should bring your guns you're going to want to shoot."  Doc gave me directions to the range and said he would call me Sunday morning.
That whole week I really tried to convince myself that I shouldn't go, what would people think having a new unexperienced shooter?  I was really nervous but then I thought, hey, I have made the investment, this is something I have always wanted to do.  So Sunday morning May 19th, I loaded my guns and gear and headed for Bismarck, then east on I-94 to and south to Mofitt to the Dakota Roughriders cowboy range.  Doc called while I was on road to make sure I was coming, he couldn't have been nicer.  When I got to range I was still a little nervous but, I spotted Doc and he came right over and helped me get registered and showed me the course and talked me through what we would be doing.  More people started arriving and everyone was really nice, not a disparaging word from anyone!  Then came time for the shoot!  I was really nervous and when it was my turn I went to the loading table, they showed me the right way to load and then it was my turn to come to the firing line!  Dakota Dealer was the Timer Operator, he was very patient and talked me through the stage.  When he said "Standby" and the buzzer went off and my mind went blank!  I drew my first pistol and started blazing away mssing a couple, then hitting most of my rifle targets I couldn't believe I could miss a target that close with a shotgun! but I got through it and what a rush!  I was hooked, this was so much fun I couldn't believe it had taken me this long to discover cowboy action shooting.  Through the rest of the day Doc Hell was right there explaining everything, everyone was very patient and seemed pleased that they had another new shooter.  That is something I have come to learn is that everyone I meet in this game is very friendly and willing to help, if your gun hangs up or breaks down they will offer you theirs to use.  During one of the next stages, there were 4 shotgun targets, I had 6 shells in on my belt but I missed twice and still had one target left but no shells!  Quick as could be Dakota Dealer who was the Timer/Operator grabbed two shotgun shells out of his belt and handed them to me so I could finish the stage.  When the match was done it turns out I hadn't done too bad, I wasn't even the slowest time but I bet I had the most fun.

My first match

So I had just about every thing I needed, even built a gun cart (more on that later), yet I still had not been to a single match.  It was early May and I was checking out the Dakota Roughriders website www.dakotaroughriders.com to see when their next match would be when to my suprise it said that they had formed a SASS club in Minot!  They were calling themselves the Trestle Valley Rangers and they were planning on having there first match in June at the outdoor range.  I couldn't believe my luck they listed emails for the three gents who were starting the club, Yellowstone Vic, Doc Hell and Charlie Waite.  I sent them an email and told them I would like come to the shoot and was willing to help out anyway I could.  I soon got a reply back from Vic welcoming me to cowboy action shooting and inviting me to the shoot in June.  I replied right back and said I would be there for setup and the shoot.